Sterling Silver: (Sterling Hunter 1)

by Melody Personette

  “Wow a vampire who has self-restraint. Impressive,” she taunted.

  She got to her feet, flinching at the pain and limped over to her backpack. Ignoring the hunger-ravaged vampire, she unzipped the front pocket of her backpack and grabbed one of the many Band-Aids she kept inside. Tabitha sat back down on the curb and put the Band-Aid on. She would go to the restroom and clean it up, but for now a Band-Aid would do.

  “I'm sorry,” Sebastian finally whispered, his voice strained. Tabitha looked up to find his face contorted with pain, as if it physically hurt him to resist the blood, his nature.

  She narrowed her eyes and stood, blood still on her fingertips. “Whatever,” she muttered, zipping up her backpack and grabbing her last stake from the ground.

  Halfway to the door she pointed the stake at him. He didn't move. He stood frozen in the parking lot like a sickly pale statue. “If I see you in my high school again or even in my town again, I will find a way to kill you, got it?”

  He didn't nod or make some witty comeback or anything. Surprisingly, he turned and ran. Tabitha jumped as he disappeared in a blur.

  Scowling she shoved her stake back into her backpack. And people thought she was a freak. If a person was going to be a vampire, then actually be one. Eat people and be evil and cruel. Not some whack vampire who resisted blood and actually tried to help humans kill their own kind. Sebastian was unnatural and strange. Tabitha hoped she never saw him again.

  She shut the exit door with finality and headed for the bathroom to clean up the scratch on her knee. Then she would find Chelsea and try to come up with a convincing lie to tell her.

  ***

  Sure enough, at lunch Chelsea bombarded her with questions, curious as to what had caused Tabitha to have such violent mood swings that morning.

  Tabitha waved her fork around. “Sorry Chelse. I don't know what else to say. I panicked or whatever and needed to get some air. Next time I will definitely include you in on my embarrassing flip out during class.”

  Chelsea smiled, opening her latest book again. “Good. I don't like being left out, especially since you're like my only friend.”

  Tabitha laughed halfheartedly as Chelsea went back to reading and Tabitha went back to thinking about her encounter with Sebastian. Why hadn't the Carters just approached her themselves? They knew her well enough. Jonas could have even offered her a position between classes if he wanted. And yet, instead of confronting her, they had chosen a vampire to show up and train her? Was that why they had started avoiding her and why Jonas avoided her at school like she was a vampire herself.

  Could the two coincidences be connected? She had planned to go over and see them, ask why they were avoiding her.

  But if Sebastian was lying then why did he follow her and risk being killed to tell her about the Moirai? None of it made sense. The Carters needed to come out and say what was on their mind instead of using a vampire to get to her. Tabitha had thought their two families were closer than that.

  And Sebastian? What was up with him? Tabitha couldn't figure him out or if he was telling the truth or not. About the Carters or the secret conversations. Why did Sebastian have to come along and complicate things?

  Vampires weren't supposed to be humanized. They weren't supposed to tell the truth or be friendly or the least bit charming or very good looking... Which Sebastian was. He'd worn a fitted shirt... Tabitha couldn't remember what color, but she definitely remembered the outline of rippling muscles underneath and the muscles of his lean arms. And his smile... and his face... Not even the fangs could mar such a perfect face.

  Tabitha made a disgusted face at herself and shook her mind of the twisted vampire daydream.

  No.

  No.

  No.

  She was not going to turn into cliché teenage girl who fell in love with a really old, good-looking vampire. Not going to happen.

  Tabitha stabbed a piece of cheesy broccoli with her fork and scowled. She was not going to become a Bella or a Buffy. Just Tabitha, the vampire hunter who could care less about any of them. With satisfaction, she shoved the broccoli into her mouth and changed the subject of her thoughts to something simpler. Carter drama simpler.

  The rest of lunch passed by the way it always did. Chelsea had her nose in a book most of the time, making odd comments about the characters and Tabitha agreeing with whatever she said as she absentmindedly ate. She caught Jonas glancing at her every other few minutes.

  And then her time to pounce came. She caught Jonas before he could enter their Biology class. Tabitha stood between the lockers and the door and when he passed by, she grabbed his shirt and yanked him into the alcove with him. His fist came up, but she caught it, stronger and faster than him even by hunter standards. When he saw who had grabbed him, his panic turned into a scowl. He shrugged out of her grip.

  “What's wrong with you Tabitha? I could have hurt you.”

  Tabitha snorted and folded her arms. “Yeah right. We both know you can't touch me. Why are you avoiding me? And why's my mom and your mom having secret phone conversations about me?”

  His eyes widened, and he shrugged glancing over his shoulder. A few of his buddies waited for him by the door and giving him weird looks. “I dunno. They don't tell me much… Stop being so paranoid.”

  He turned to leave, heading over to his friends but Tabitha grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. Jonas scowled at her. She scowled right back. “You're lying. This has something to do with the hunt last week,” she whispered.

  He pushed her hands off him and stepped back, his eyebrows raised. “Maybe it does or maybe it doesn't. I don't know. Just get over it Tab.”

  “You're lying to me. Does this have something to do with the Moirai bringing a vampire to train me. Without telling me? He’s a vamp and working with your parents.”

  Jonas's eyes widened. “I... I knew Mom and Dad wanted to make sure you go through with the trials… All my dad said was, or at least all I heard him say was, that the Sterling’s are important and powerful. He needs a member of the Sterling family in the organization for some reason. Maybe to... I don't know, keep the other families in check. You know how the Russos get. They've always been bitter toward our two families. I guess Dad thinks if you join it'll be a show of a united force,” Jonas stuttered.

  “That can't be all. There has to be something more,” she growled.

  Jonas scowled at her. “If there is, I don't know what it is. I mean, I am surprised they would bring in a vampire to train you, but also… you’re Tabitha Sterling. Dad will want you to have the best training because he really wants you to pass the trials.”

  Tabitha scrutinized him and then let her arm drop to her side. “Did he think I wouldn’t be able to on my own?”

  Jonas shrugged. “I don’t know… maybe.”

  She scowled at his back as he entered Bio with his friends and walked in a minute behind him, lifting her head high as she passed him to sit in the back of the class. Tabitha would figure out what his problem was with her. One way or another.

  The rest of the day creeped by like a snail. Tabitha couldn’t get Sebastian out of her head. She kept waiting for him to step around a corner or appear in one of her classes, but he never did. Maybe she’d actually scared him off. So much for being a big bad vampire. Tabitha couldn’t wait to get home and question her mom. Or better yet, get some answers from the Carters.

  ***

  She met Chelsea outside in the school parking lot once her last class released. Chelsea didn't have her driver's license yet, so her mom or sister always picked her up.

  Tabitha waved as Chelsea made her way to her sister's car. “I'll see you tomorrow. Text you when I get home,” she called.

  Chelsea nodded and waved as she threw her backpack and book into the back seat. “See ya. Try not to have another freak out.”

  Tabitha laughed and waved again before heading for her blue bug. She threw her stuff into the backseat, started the car and headed out. Despite trying all da
y to ignore what had happened that morning, her car reminded her of last night, when she'd first met Sebastian. Bumped into him without sensing his vampirism.

  As she turned into their neighborhood which was only five minutes from the high school, she couldn't shake the sneaking suspicion that this was just the beginning. No doubt Sebastian would try again, which meant Tabitha would have to up her defenses at the house. But as she came down her street, all thoughts of Sebastian disappeared. A black car sat in her parking spot in the driveway. Scowling, Tabitha pulled onto the curb and turned her car off. None of Mom's friends owned a car like that. An older looking Cadillac convertible.

  She grabbed her backpack from the back seat and headed up to her house. It was a two-story house, originally meant for a family of four but over the years had dwindled to a family of two.

  Tabitha had an older brother, Derrick. After their dad died, he left for college right away and was pursuing a degree in criminal justice. He wanted to work for the government… be a police officer or something. Derrick still seemed to be figuring out his career path, having taken a few semesters off over the past two years to travel and such.

  Tabitha opened the front door and stopped short. Two strangers sat on the couch in the front room. A petite woman with long black hair tied back in a ponytail and in neat jeans and a t-shirt and a tall guy with dark brown hair. All eyes focused on her as she shut the door. “Uh... I didn't know we were having company, Mom,” she said.

  Her mom smiled and stood. She had more of a resemblance to the dark-skinned couple on the couch than she did with her own daughter. Tabitha got her strawberry blond hair from her dad. Her mom had the frizzy, caramel brown curls and matching caramel skin that Derrick had. “Tabitha, don't freak out but... we have some visitors. Old friends of the family.”

  Why would she ask her not to freak out? And then someone stepped out of the shadows from the corner and Tabitha's stomach clenched, her fingers itching for a stake.

  Sebastian

  Sebastian stood in her living room.

  Chapter Five

  “You,” Tabitha accused.

  Sebastian smirked, his eyes flickering from her bandaged-up knee to her face.

  Her mom glanced between the two of them, confusion creasing her features. “You know Sebastian?”

  Sebastian? She was on first name terms with him? When she'd said old friends of the family surely, she didn't mean Sebastian, did she?

  Tabitha ignored him and rounded on her mom. “Mom, what is going on here?” She jabbed a finger at Sebastian. “I tried to kill him this morning because he showed up in my lit class. I have one stake left and I am about ready to use it.”

  Her mom held her hands out as if trying to soothe a savage animal. “Calm down Tabitha. He's an old friend. A... well a very old friend of the Sterling’s.”

  A very old friend of her family? How in the heck did that...? Tabitha didn't even know what to say. She rubbed her forehead and turned back to the small group. The two humans shifted uncomfortably, but Sebastian stood stone still, watching her with a steady gaze. Waiting to see if she blew a circuit again. Well, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

  “You know what?” Tabitha shook her head and held up a hand to stop her mom from trying to convince her Sebastian really was a friend. “I'm not dealing with this right now. My knee hurts, and my head hurts and... I'm going upstairs. You have fun having a little tea party with your vampire friend Mom.”

  Tabitha pivoted on her heels, grabbed her backpack and ran upstairs, ignoring her mom trying to convince her to come back down and be civil. After the day she had had Tabitha didn't feel like being civil. She stopped at the top of the stairs, deciding to wait until their guests left before questioning her mother.

  “I'm really sorry...” her mom said, “She usually isn't like this.”

  The woman on the couch spoke up, her voice laced with a mild Spanish accent. Thicker than the one Tabitha's mother had, but not so thick you couldn't understand what she was saying. “It's alright. This is a lot to take in and would be a huge change for her.”

  “Thanks Sandra. I'm sure I can talk to Tabitha and get her to understand what a big deal this will be for her. I think... it will be good for her.”

  What will be good for her? Tabitha gripped her backpack. Was her mom making decisions without asking her first? No way was she going to train with a vampire. And why did her mom let Sebastian–a vampire! – into their house?

  And besides, how old of a family friend was he? Could he have known her great-grandparents? Or great-great-grandparents? The human guy spoke next as feet shuffled and got up from the couches, headed for the door. “I hope this doesn't mean we're uninvited to dinner?”

  Mom laughed, and Tabitha hurried to hide behind the corner at the top of the stairs. They made their way to the door. “Of course not. We'll see you tomorrow night. You too, Sebastian. I'm sure Tabitha will warm up to you.”

  A chuckle. Dark and predatory and monotone. “I wouldn't hold my breath. She puts up quite a fight.”

  Tabitha grinned.

  “Well... you'll be in school tomorrow?”

  The woman laughed. “Sebastian will be in school tomorrow and the next day and the next day after that. For as long as he decides to stay here. Besides it's not like he has anything better to do.”

  She heard Sebastian snort before stepping out of the house.

  Sandra laughed as the door opened. “Thanks for having us over Maria. It's been good catching up.”

  “Of course. We'll see you at dinner tomorrow.”

  They stepped out but before they left, Tabitha scowled as Sebastian said, “And... perhaps confiscate some of Tabitha's stakes tomorrow. She almost staked me during class, and I don't think her teachers would appreciate one of their students having a violent outburst in class.”

  Silence and then, “I... will do that. Thanks Sebastian.”

  The door shut, and Tabitha let out a breath. Instead of heading directly back downstairs, she threw her backpack into her room and stripped her purple boots off, setting them down in her closet, amongst her many other brightly colored shoes. She headed back downstairs and found her mom in their pastel-colored kitchen, fixing herself a cup of coffee.

  “Sorry... I kind of freaked. But to be honest I've been freaking all day,” she explained, leaning against one the pastel purple walls.

  Her mom raised her eyebrows, pouring herself more coffee. She pressed her lips into a thin line and frowned as she took a seat at their round wooden table splattered with paint from years of having messy kids and a painter for a mother in the house. “Well that doesn't mean you have to be rude.”

  “You don't understand,” Tabitha shrugged off the wall and gestured around wildly. “Sebastian came out of nowhere. No one told me he was going to show up in my class. I wasn't prepared, and my hunter instincts went crazy and I couldn't control myself. I thought I was going to drop him right there in class. And then I didn't, and he ambushed me outside when I was trying to calm down. The only reason he left was because I tripped and scraped my knee.”

  Her mom shook her head and sipped her coffee. “Even if you wanted to drop him Tabitha, you couldn't. He's nearly a hundred and sixty-five. He can walk in the sunlight, resist the temptation of blood and is faster than any vampire I've ever seen. Faster than any vampire your father had ever seen. He can't be killed so easily.”

  Tabitha stood on the opposite end of the table, watching her mom pick up her phone and begin sifting through her Facebook feed as if they were talking about the weather instead of an immortal vampire friend of the family. “Dad knew him?”

  Her mom nodded. “Yes, he did. I'm not exactly sure on the whole history of the Sterling family since I married into it, but I do know that a very long time ago, Sebastian met a Sterling and they became... friends, I guess. He latched onto our family and has been a good friend and a trusted ally ever since.”

  Because that made complete sense. Not only could Sebastian resist his
primal nature and want to kill his own kind, but he also befriended an entire line of Sterling’s.

  Tabitha scowled and sat down to try to get her mom's attention and show her she wasn't going anywhere until she got answers. “Dad was friends with a vampire, and he never told me? Why?” A tiny spark of betrayal hit her in the heart.

  Her mom pursed her lips and sighed. “We haven’t seen Sebastian in years… Since before you were even born. Your father never thought it was relevant to bring him up to you.”

  “Yeah, well, I think it could have been relevant,” Tabitha muttered.

  “Hon, please,” her mom sighed.

  Tabitha scowled. “Fine. What about the Moirai? The Carters know I plan to enter the trials. Why do they think I need a vampire to train me? Do they not think I’m good enough?”

  Her mom took another sip of her coffee before answering, narrowing her eyes at something on Facebook. “Did you know Hannah has a new boyfriend?”

  Tabitha sighed and threw her hands up, letting them land with a thud on the table. “Mom, pay attention! Moirai. Why?”

  Her mom shot her a chastising glance for her rudeness. “Yes, alright, they think you could use some extra training. The trials aren’t just about brute strength and power. They’re about cleverness and agility and using your prowess in combat and… they don’t think you have what it takes yet. That’s why they brought Sebastian in.”

  Tabitha frowned, folding her arms on the table and waiting for her mom to answer. “Well I don’t need his help. I can pass the trials all on my own.”

  “Just give him a chance, please?” her mom finally looked up from her phone and gave her a pleading look. “For me?”

  “I just want to know why they would think I need a vampire’s help.”

  “When Mr. Carter passes away, and when you and Jonas are old enough, you two will be the successors of this entire organization. You have the talent and instincts of your father. That makes you one of the best and advanced hunters your father and the Carters have ever seen. Jonas has been trained practically since birth, not only in how to hunt and kill, but also how to run the organization and of the traditions and history of the Moirai. They want to make sure, without a shadow of a doubt, that you will pass.”